


Returning Home

by Persiflage



Category: Holby City
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Berena tbc, Canon Schmanon, Cheerfully Ignoring Any and All Canon as the Lord Intended, F/F, Family Reunions, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Kissing, Post-Canon Fix-It, Serious Injuries, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26304172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: Post-canon fix-it: Bernie didn't die in Mogadishu and she eventually comes back home to her family, and to Serena.
Relationships: Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe
Comments: 24
Kudos: 97
Collections: to be continued... (Berena Summer Sequel Event)





	Returning Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rauz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rauz/gifts).



> I wrote part of this as a flash fic a little while ago to cheer up Rauz who was having a bad day. Then the Berena tbc was announced, and I realised I could use the fic for the event since it continues canon. At which point I figured I might as well extend it and give it a properly happy ending.

It’s all Serena can do not to throw herself at Bernie as she comes into the room reserved for the spouses and partners of those personnel returning from the airport and hospital bombings in Mogadishu. It had taken three incredibly painful weeks for anyone to even confirm that Bernie had survived the blast at the airport, where she’d gone to retrieve her newly arrived luggage. Three weeks of hell for Serena, wondering if she’d ever see the love of her life again, and knowing it was her own damn fault Bernie had gone there in the first place. She had wondered whether she should even be here with Cam and Charlie today, given the fact that she had effectively broken up with their mother, but they had both, individually and together, begged her to be with them and she’d discovered that just as it was impossible to say no to Berenice Wolfe, it was hard to say no to either of her children.

“Mum!” gasps Charlie when she sees the familiar messy blonde hair, sees that Bernie is in a wheelchair. “Oh my god. Mum!”

Serena wraps an arm around Charlie’s shoulders as she starts to sob, then starts a little when Cam wraps his arm around her shoulders. The three of them move awkwardly across the room to where Bernie’s being wheeled away from the other returnees.

“Charlie.” Bernie’s voice cracks with emotion, though she’s clearly doing her best to retain that famous British reserve. 

Charlie bends down and Bernie wraps too thin arms around her daughter, who is still sobbing even as she hugs her mother tightly.

“Oof, not too tightly, love, please. Ribs are still healing.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Charlie says, releasing her grip. “Are you okay? Apart from the ribs?”

“And the dodgy legs,” Bernie says with a lightness that belies the pain that Serena’s experienced eye can see lurking in the blonde’s eyes.

Cam gives Serena a squeeze, then moves to join his mother and sister. “Budge up a bit, sis, and let me give Madre a hug, too.” He rubs his hand comfortingly up and down Charlie’s spine and she straightens up, then tries to stem her tears.

Serena moves closer and holds out a pocket packet of tissues, one of several she dropped into her bag before leaving home.

“Thanks, Serena,” Charlie says, taking the packet and opening it to pull out two tissues.

“She’s going to be okay,” Serena says softly in the young woman’s ear. “I promise you. They wouldn’t have let her come home if they weren’t certain of that.”

“I know,” Charlie says. “I remember you telling me that before. I just – I’m not ready to lose her, Serena.”

“None of us are, love,” Serena says, and gives her a comforting half hug just as Cam straightens up from sharing his own hug with his mother.

He steps back, then moves to Charlie’s other side as Bernie bends her gaze on Serena.

“Thank you for looking after them for me,” she says.

“Of course I did,” Serena says immediately. “They’re your children. How could I not?”

She sees Bernie swallow hard and guesses the blonde is struggling with her emotions. “Don’t I get a hug from you, too, then?” she asks.

It’s Serena’s turn to swallow hard. “If you’d like one?” she says carefully.

“I would.”

Serena nods, then unwinds her arm from Charlie, who squeezes her shoulder in passing, then Cam pats her back as she passes him, before she reaches Bernie.

“Hello soldier.” She bends forward. “I’m so glad you’re home safe,” she says in a low voice.

“Me, too,” Bernie replies, sighing softly as she lifts her arms to wrap around Serena’s shoulders. 

After what may be moments or hours, she’s not sure which, Serena feels Bernie’s grip slackening, and she pulls back, then reaches out to thumb a tear from her cheek. “Shall we get out of here?” 

“Yes please.”

SC-BW-SC-BW-SC

An hour later, Serena pulls up outside her leafy detached, and Cam’s first out of the car, getting the wheelchair from the boot, then helping his mother out of the car and into the chair. Bernie can walk with crutches, but her legs are very weak still, so it’s better that she continues to use the chair for the time being, much though she loathes it.

Charlie takes Serena’s keys, unlocks the side gate, then leads the way down the path towards the back garden and the kitchen door, which leads directly from the house to the garden and doesn’t have a step, making it the easiest way to get Bernie’s wheelchair in and out of the house. Serena brings up the rear carrying Bernie’s bags.

“Who wants tea or coffee?” Serena asks once they’re all indoors.

Cam looks at his watch, then winces. “I’m sorry, Madre, Serena, but I need to get going. I’m on night shift tonight at The Spire, and I need to get home and eat before I head in.”

“It’s okay, love, you go.” Bernie smiles up at him as he ducks his head and plants a kiss on her forehead. 

“I’ll see you soon,” he promises.

“Come any time,” Serena says firmly, and he smiles, presses a brief kiss to her cheek – something he’s never done before – then disappears again. “What about you, Charlie?”

She sighs. “I wish I could, but I have to go and have dinner with the boss and a couple of prospective clients. I’m sorry, mum, but–” 

“It’s fine, love. I understand. You and Cam both have your own lives and careers to think about. I’ll be fine.”

Charlie gives Bernie a quick hug around the shoulders then, like Cam, presses a kiss to Bernie’s forehead, then Serena’s cheek in quick succession before also disappearing.

“I didn’t realise you’re on kissing terms with my children,” Bernie observes, and Serena’s hand comes up to play with the pendant at her throat.

“I – uh – that’s the first time either one of them’s done that,” she says, a note of apology in her voice.

“Serena, it’s fine,” Bernie says, giving her a small smile. “I’m truly very grateful that you’ve been there for them during this mess.”

“They’re your two,” Serena says with a small smile of her own. “I couldn’t do otherwise.” She indicates the kettle. “Tea?”

“I would love some, please.”

Serena nods and checks it’s got sufficient water in it, then switches it on. “Do you want to have it here or in the sitting room?”

“In the sitting room, please. I’d quite like to get out of this chair if that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay,” Serena says immediately. “Do you want to move now?”

Bernie gives a quick, jerky nod, and Serena asks, “Want me to push you through?”

“Would you mind? My arms aren’t really strong enough yet. I can manage the crutches, but this thing’s heavier than I am, so it takes more arm strength than I currently have.”

Serena grabs the handles and gently, very carefully, manoeuvres the chair into the sitting room, deeply grateful that her house has plenty of space with wide hallways and doorways.

Once in the sitting room, she helps Bernie out of the chair and onto the sofa, then moves the chair to the side. 

“Are you hungry? None of us ate much lunch, so if you want something, I’m happy to make enough for two.”

“Serena.” To her surprise, Bernie reaches for her, so she sits down beside her. “We should talk about the elephant in the room before it becomes too awkward.”

Serena manages not to gulp. “Okay.”

“I want you to know that I don’t hate you for what happened with that F1 and for us breaking up.” Bernie clasps her forearm, then slides her hand down to wrist to hold her hand. “I’d like us to be friends again, at least. Is that okay?”

Serena nods and squeezes Bernie’s hand carefully. “In the interests of clearing the air, I should tell you that I still love you.” She feels Bernie’s hand twitch in her own and loosens her grip, but Bernie tightens her hold in an obviously deliberate fashion.

“I still love you, too, Campbell,” she says softly.

“Oh.” 

“C’mere,” Bernie whispers, tugging on Serena’s arm until she leans in, whereupon she finds herself being kissed. 

The kiss is soft at first, and rather exploratory, as if they’d never kissed before, then Bernie’s free hand moves to wrap around Serena’s shoulders and she deepens the kiss, making them both moan embarrassingly loudly.

They keep kissing, Serena’s hand finding its way into Bernie’s messy hair as it always seems to (and how she’s missed playing with those silky soft strands), and it’s only a need for air that makes them pull apart. 

They rest their foreheads together. 

“I missed you so much, Campbell,” Bernie says, still hoarse and breathless.

“I missed you, too.”

Any further exchanges are cut short by Serena’s stomach gurgling loudly, which makes them both chuckle, and after a moment she goes to make tea and sandwiches.

Today has turned out better than anticipated, she decides.

SC-BW-SC-BW-SC

A few hours later Serena rouses Bernie from the doze she’d fallen into while they were watching _Blue Planet II_. 

“C’mon, love, let’s get you to bed.”

She helps Bernie into the wheelchair, then wheels her along the hallway to the bathroom. “Do you want a shower or just a quick wash and clean your teeth?”

“I have been fantasising about having a proper shower,” Bernie says with a rueful smile. “But a quick wash will be fine.” 

“Bernie.” Serena says her in the name in the kind of stern tone she uses with misbehaving F1s. “If you want a shower, you can have a shower. There’s a seat in there and there are grab handles, too – I talked to your physical therapist before you flew home, once we’d agreed that you should come here to stay since neither Cam nor Charlie have enough space in their flats.”

Bernie ducks her head. “Thank you.”

Serena squeezes her shoulder, then asks, “So, shower?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay. Let me grab your toiletries bag from your room and then we’ll see how you get on.”

Serena starts to move away, but Bernie grabs her hand, giving a quick tug at her arm, so she moves back, then blushes when Bernie kisses her briefly. 

She returns with Bernie’s toiletries bag, her sleepwear, and one of her crutches. “Just to help you get in and out of the bathroom,” she says at Bernie’s raised eyebrows. “Since the wheelchair won’t fit.”

“Good point, Campbell.”

Serena holds the crutch out and takes Bernie’s free arm as she levers herself upright. 

“I think I can manage to walk in there without holding onto you,” Bernie says, and while Serena’s tempted to argue against the idea, she also knows how stubborn the other woman can be, so she nods and simply follows closely behind.

Bernie settles gratefully onto the closed seat of the toilet and Serena lets her get undressed by herself, too, then she turns on the shower, thankful that it’s a generously proportioned walk in cubicle. There’s a rubber mat on the floor, a plastic seat positioned on the mat, and a couple of strategically positioned grab handles on the sides of the shower cubicle. She watches as Bernie makes her way into the shower, clinging onto the handles, then passes in her shower gel and shampoo. 

“Do you want me to stay here in case you need help?” she asks.

Bernie shakes her head. “I’ll shout if I need you.”

“Okay.” She knows of old that Bernie generally doesn’t take long in the shower unless she’s keeping her company, so she makes her way around the house, locking up and tidying up, and keeping an ear open for Bernie’s call.

Sure enough, after about fifteen minutes, Bernie calls her name and she heads into the bathroom to find the shower shut off and a dripping wet Major Wolfe standing on the mat outside the door to the cubicle.

“Might need your help drying off,” she says through clenched teeth.

“Of course,” Serena says. She grabs the bath sheet from the heated towel rail and wraps it around Bernie’s skinny body, doing her utmost not to stare at the scars, new and old, that litter the other woman’s torso and legs. “Want me to dry your hair?” Her tone is soft and full of the tenderness that’s threatening to overwhelm her.

“Please.”

“Okay. Come and sit down again.” She guides Bernie back to her former seat, then proceeds to rub her hair dry with a different towel. “How much pain are you in? And be honest with me, Major.”

“More than a bit,” Bernie mutters. 

“Alright. Let’s get you dressed and into bed, and then you can take something.”

Bernie nods jerkily and makes no attempt to argue that she doesn’t need any assistance, which leads Serena to suspect that the other woman’s actually in quite a lot of pain. 

Once she’s dressed again, Serena helps Bernie into the wheelchair, then wheels her along the hallway to the downstairs room that she had previously used as a home office. It’s been converted, with the help of Cam, Charlie, Jason, and Greta, into a ground floor bedroom with a rather cosy feeling to it. There’s a king size bed, freshly made up with the softest, warmest bed linen that Serena could find. There’s a nightstand beside the bed, and she’s already switched on the bedside lamp, there’s also a comfy armchair, a chest of drawers, and a wardrobe, although she knows Bernie doesn’t own that many clothes.

“C’mon then, love,” she says, and helps Bernie out of the wheelchair and into the bed, before grabbing the Morphine tablets and glass of water she’d laid out ready. She perches on the side of the bed, then holds out a tablet on the palm of her hand. Bernie takes it, grabbing the glass of water in the other hand, and downs the tablet with several gulps of water.

“Anything else I can get you before I go upstairs?”

“I don’t suppose–” Bernie cuts herself off and shakes her head slightly. “No, thank you, Serena. I really appreciate your help.”

“You don’t suppose what?”

Bernie peeks up at her from under her fringe, then takes a careful deep breath. “I don’t suppose you’d consider staying with me?” she asks, looking both hopeful and bashful. “I miss sleeping next to you.”

“Of course I can do that,” Serena says. “I miss sleeping with you, too.” She gets to her feet. “Let me go and fetch a couple of things from my bedroom, have a wash up, and then I’ll join you.”

Bernie catches hold of her hand and squeezes. “Thank you.”

Serena shakes her head. “Thank you.” When Bernie gives her a questioning look, she adds, “For giving me a second chance after – before.”

Bernie gives her a tender smile. “Of course I would,” she says. “I love you, Serena Wendy Campbell. And I did promise to wait for you for eternity.”

Serena swallows, lifts her hand, kissing her knuckles, then slides off the bed. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Bernie nods, looking sleepier, and Serena leans down to kiss her fairly chastely, then she hurries out and upstairs to fetch her things. She hadn’t dared dream of the possibility of sharing a bed with Berenice Wolfe ever again, but apparently she will. The thought is slightly terrifying, but mostly pleasing.

The reality – of having Bernie sleeping in her arms all night – is deeply gratifying, and she immediately resolves to never, ever drive this gallant, often foolishly noble, tender-hearted woman away again. Even though they only sleep together, she feels like a new woman the following morning.

“This is an amazing bed,” Bernie says the next morning, her voice husky with sleep.

Serena chuckles. “I’m glad that you think so.”

They kiss, morning breath be damned, slowly and sweetly, before Serena helps Bernie to the bathroom to make use of its facilities, then they go back to bed for a couple of hours of conversation and cuddling. Not only has Bernie returned home to her, but Serena feels as if a large piece of her heart has been returned to her, too. It’s unexpected and wonderfully satisfying.


End file.
